Brother
by Hinataro
Summary: Sometimes comfort can be found in the terror itself.


**Title:** "Brother"**  
Characters:** Arthur Kirkland (England), Li (Hong Kong), and a little bit of Wang Yao (China).

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Axis Powers Hetalia. All of these characters belong to Hidekazu Himaruya.

* * *

Arthur would always remember the day he had first set eyes on Li.

The boy was still young, really just a small child at the time, barely coming above the Englishman's knee. Clutching a small stuffed panda to his chest, the boy had latched himself to his elder brother's leg, sobbing and mumbling into the fabric something that Arthur could only guess the meaning of.

_"I don't want to go."_

The child's sobs is what struck Arthur the most. Tears poured out of dark eyes, rolling down a face deformed by sorrow, and his small body trembled as he stared up fearfully at the tall, daunting, blond man that his gege said would be taking him away.

Yao did not cry.

Yao kept his pride, lips kept in a tight line and eyes hard, impassive.

He would no longer beg- Arthur was shown enough of that side of him. He now refused to give the man any more opportunity to pleasure from seeing him weak. He refused to give him any more knowledge of how much this hurt- even, how much he _cared_ that his family was being torn apart.

So Arthur didn't know.

And neither did Li, apparently.

"Gege! Gege-!"

That was the second thing that Arthur could never forget.

The pained screams of a child as he was dragged away from a brother who spared him nothing but a blank, almost cold stare before turning back into the house without a second glance.

How pained they were.

* * *

Sobs haunted the corridor for a good portion of the night, rendering Arthur sleepless. He lay there, listening to the child's cries, each sharp intake of breath stabbing at him and every shaky exhale breaking his heart.

He needed a walk, he decided. Badly. He had to clear his mind.

Weaving through the wide hallways, he would stumble and trip in the murky, unfamiliar darkness, but no matter where he went, the sound of sobbing would find him, cutting and bruising him where his falls didn't.

Gritting his teeth and ignoring them, however, Arthur kept walking.

* * *

No matter what he did, no matter how he pushed himself, he simply could not bring himself to go in.

Arthur lingered before Li's room, hand hovering above the doorknob, eyes half closed and body weary. His ears were battered and his heart was scarred from the assault of the child's tortured voice that tore him up from the inside out.

"Damn it, just go in." His body refused to cooperate.

Minutes turned to hours, and the voice inside the room finally quieted, along with the boy who had fallen into a fitful sleep, the aftermaths of sobbing quietly trembling within him.

Thoroughly exhausted, Arthur collapsed on the spot, falling asleep on the cold floor.

* * *

The Englishman soon found himself startled rather abruptly awake by a sudden screaming that sounded terribly like Li.

Scrambling to his feet, the man threw the door open and rushed to the bedside to rescue the thrashing child from a sea of blankets that had entangled themselves around his body.

Almost immediately, Li had himself latched to Arthur's shirt, burying his face into the elder's chest, breathing hysterical and sweat soaked body shaking uncontrollably.

He likely had a nightmare, Arthur thought, looking at him with softened eyes. Supporting the child's weight with one arm and gently running his fingers through the boy's short locks of dark hair with the other, the elder sat on the bed and cooed softly into the younger one's ear.

They sat, Arthur rocking slowly back and forth, stroking the head of Li, who was curled up tightly and pressed against his chest, small breaths steadily becoming calm as he contentedly listened to the comforting heartbeat that reminded him so much of his brother.

He must have dozed off for a minute or two, for when Arthur woke, he found the other fast asleep on his lap. Smiling, he gently pressed his lips against the round, tear-stained cheeks, tasting the remnants of the salty liquid on his lips when he withdrew.

The child stirred, blinking heavily, moving only slightly to look up at the man hovering above him.

"Gege?" He murmured in a thick, sleep accented voice. Dark eyes meandered up to meet green ones.

The smaller furrowed his brow.

"Gege…?" He asked again, quieter this time.

"No," Arthur whispered, running a thumb across the small face, pushing away the hair that had plastered itself to the wet, sticky surface. "Brother."

Li simply nodded, a smile ghosting his features, before snuggling back into his "brother's" arms, falling promptly back to sleep.

He dreamed not of ghosts or demons, nor did he dream of storms and rain.

Li dreamed of angels.

"Brother…"

And for the first time, he was at peace.

* * *

AN: This actually turned out much more cuddle-filled than what I originally anticipated, but hey, I guess this works too.

I'm slowly developing a love for the relationship between Hong Kong and England, not so much in the loving type of way, but more like a family. Because HK is actually really adorable when you think about it.

Thank you for reading, and loves if you could write a review as well!


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